CES 2011: Video Interview with Bookeen Cofounder Laurent Picard

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Publishing Perspectives was on the lookout for book-related companies, and we stopped by the Bookeen booth to look at their e-readers and talk about the business they did at CES.

Take a look at our full-length video interview for a closer look at the Bookeen e-readers and their experience at CES this year.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2_Jcx0hxEs

Cofounder Laurent Picard told us that Bookeen launched a new device at CES called the Cybook Orizon. This e-reader is wi-fi enabled, supports all the major e-book formats, and has a multi-touch screen. Also on display at the Bookeen booth was the Cybook Opus device, a smaller, lightweight e-reader that flipped between portrait and landscape mode.

Picard said that the success of any device depends on “the comfort of the experience” and that is one of Bookeen’s goals with each of its devices. He also told us that Bookeen created its first e-reader ten years ago. At that time, the company also had to create the e-books themselves because the digital content was not available from publishers. Despite a slow start before e-books became popular, Bookeen is now the second most popular device in Europe behind the Sony Reader.

Bookeen's Cybook Opus e-reader

The launch of the Orizon device was not the only reason Bookeen was at CES. They were also there to meet with international partners including hardware suppliers, distributors, retailers, and even publishers. Picard said that Bookeen signed more deals at CES than last year, and it had been a successful show.

Bookeen is a Paris-based maker of e-reading devices. Cofounders Laurent Picard and Michaël Dahan began working on the design of their first e-reader in 1998.